Nice to Meet U Peking

I was taken to eat peking duck several times during my travels in Beijing. Each experience was unique and flavorful. Restaurants have their own recipes for peking duck, so each taste was particular to the kitchen's cooking style. The crisp of the duck's skin cannot be described with words...

Chinese Fish

In one of my dining experiences, I encountered a distinguished Mr. fish (one to one) before selecting him  to be my dinner. My tummy was honored. Yes, have I mentioned how much I love food? Eating is my favorite way to experience cultures...

these sweet rolls were amazing, filled with bean paste!

Snowy Wall - Part 2

It might not seem obvious in the pictures, but the stairs of the great wall are unique in their shape and size. They are narrow and high so it requires an extra effort to climb them up. It's inspiring to see some locals visit the wall to perform their routine exercise... made it seem so effortlessly. After half an hour, the sky became grey and particularly windy. I decided to get down and take a look around, that's where I discovered the mushroom sign, ducks, and neat stones with writing on them.

Thinking back, the atmosphere was rather silent and breathtaking...

Snowy Wall - Part 1

Forgive me if this post is rather nerdy... I'm a fan of history and my tendencies toward nostalgia increase when I am in the presence of historical monuments {Great Wall}. It's breathe taking and inspiring. While at the same time, you can't help but reminisce in the thoughts of those before you who were there in the prime of it all. It's one thing to read about it and another is to experience it -- well, kinda!

I was told this text said ¨Do not pee¨ I thought it was an interesting looking sign... 

The weather was perfect, as it painted a real scenario of what men/soldiers endured during a winter season. My winter ¨experience¨must be sweet and beautiful compared to the storms and real conditions the men were exposed to back then. It was rather humbling and awe inspiring. The white blanket that covered the wall made it mystical and magical... it seemed like it whispered into my ear and into my soul.

Colorful Night

A friend took me to the Village in Sanlitun in Beijing at night so that I could see one of the most popular shopping centers. The area is quite popular with foreigners, encountered many Germans and English that night. The center also boasts of many many places to eat. Too many restaurants looked appealing, which made it difficult for our tummies to commit to just one dining option. Eventually we decided on The Orient Kitchen. Unfortunately, I don't have any visuals :( but I can tell you that we ate an Asian cross-cultural Hong Kong style meal. Tasty Tasty! The dinning environment is friendly and decor wonderful. Definitely recommend!

p.s. the apple store shown in the pics is the one people pelted with eggs. The act made headlines as the iphone 4S went on sale and people were upset because the store would not open.

Off to the East

My journey took me to:

Yes! That's right, I took many flights and experienced bad turbulence (not a fan of flying, see here) but eventually made it to Beijing, China. The above image I took once I got into the cab and found myself smiling at this sweet decoration. BEIJING! I'm excited to share with you my experiences and encounters with the Chinese cuisine, art, and culture. Many colorful pictures coming your way...

p.s. I'm slowly but surely catching up with blogs, pardon for the lack of comments and feedback lately. Balancing work travels and personal life isn't an easy task! If you have any tips for work/life balance, I'm all ears :)

Keep smiling the week is almost over and the weekend calls hither...

Happy Dragon Year!

Dragon. Dragon. Happy Chinese New Year, year of the DRAGON!

Many blessing to you and the entire planet!

The below is a reminder of the power behind "family".